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Thread: ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    22

    ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

    Hi,

    I just got this Laptop today (w/o operating system).
    I immediately tried ubuntu 11.04 from a live usb stick and everything seemed to work just fine so I rebooted to install.
    I set everything up (50gb / partition; 260Gb home (encrypted); 8Gb Swap); install went smoothly. However after install the laptop wont boot from the HDD, it always says "operating system not found". I did check and it is set up to boot from HDD as first priority.
    Booting from the USB Stick still works and the partitions seem to have been created correctly by the system...

    Any Help would be much appreciated.


    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Beans
    22

    Re: ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

    So I made some progress, hopefully this will be usefull for other (future) x121e owners:

    I installed ubuntu 11.04 again but letting the system wipe the drive and create all partitions manually. After installation the system booted in to ubuntu fine, everything seemed to be working, including most Fn buttons.
    I checked the Disk utility and noticed that the automatic installation made an 20mb "efi" partition ot the beginnig of the drive. Also all my partitions were supposedly misaligned which the utility said would strongly impact performance (Is that really the case with HDDs?).

    I decided to reinstall manually setting my partitions as before, but adding an 100mb efi partition at the beginning. after installation the system booted perfectly! Disk utility still complained about my disks being misaligned however...
    The system asked to do some partial upgrades. These included an update for GRUB, which asked where to install the bootloader (options where /sda & /sda1). I picked /sda. After a reboot the system only booted to grub rescue mode.

    I then then tested 11.10 alpha, which seems to work fine except for wireless (worked on 11.04), and it also shows misaligned partitions.


    Does someone know what to do at install time so the partitions are aligned (as far as I know they should be aligned automatically by the installer)?

    Also I would rather not install 11.10 yet. Should I have selected /sda1 at the update (I might reinstall and try this later today anyway)? Or just blacklist the update?

    Thanks in advance for any help!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Beans
    22

    Re: ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

    Ok, found the problem.
    With the partial upgrade grub-efi-amd64 was removed and grub-pc installed instead. This is a bug which has already been fixed in Oneiric, see here:

    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ux/+bug/811913
    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...pt/+bug/800910

    The solution is to do the partial upgrade, not install grub-pc anywhere when asked, and then reinstalling grub-efi again afterwards (sudo apt-get install grub-efi-amd64 ).

    Hopefully my 3 post monologue will help someone else...


    A solution for the alignment problem would still be much appreciated.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Beans
    22

    Re: ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

    Now that I have had some time to test the laptop I can highly recommend it!

    Almost everything works out of the box. The performance is also really good for this price range (390€ with 8gb ram). I can play graphic intensive games such as ETQW or Trine without problems.

    what works:
    -wlan
    -bluetooth
    -all Fn-Keys except mute-micophone, camera and headphones
    -webcam
    -speakers
    -suspend
    -multitouch on touchpad
    -microphone
    -headphone jack

    what doesnt work:
    -hybernate


    The only open question is how to properly align the partitions.
    Last edited by utillich; July 31st, 2011 at 12:06 PM. Reason: added link to "ask ubuntu"

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Berlin, Germany
    Beans
    21
    Distro
    Xubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

    Re: ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

    Thanks for the quick review, much appreciated. Thinking of ordering that Thinkpad too.
    How do you like the touchpad with multitouch? I am a trackpoint user, BTW, but maybe this is a nice addition. And how is the display? The Edge 13 hat very dull displays, expecting the x121e 's is better overall, is it?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Beans
    22

    Re: ] ThinkPad X121e [AMD E-350]

    How do you like the touchpad with multitouch?

    The touchpad is really nice, it has a slight texture which I really like. The whole pad can also be clicked down, which might be nice for some, but I prefer the dedicated buttons.
    I only use the multitouch for two finger scrolling. I have no idea if it able to handle more complex stuff like gestures.

    And how is the display? The Edge 13 hat very dull displays, expecting the x121e 's is better overall, is it?
    I have never handled the edge 13 so I cant make a direct comparison, but i really like the display. It is a matte display, so there is no reflections (which was an important criteria for me), so it is probably not as bright as some other displays. It is more than bright enough for me though, I am currently using it at 50%.



    One last thing I noticed that my wireless connection sometimes slows to a crawl, but its fine again after a couple of seconds. This might be a problem with my router though (wired on my destop-PC doesn't get lags), I'll test it at work tomorrow...

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